That's My Heartstrings
by Bdoyle
Summary: Daisy's back. Coulson's relieved. So's May. It's time for everyone to admit the truth.


Coulson walked through the silent, empty halls, lights dimmed for the night. The eerie glow intended to give the illusion of serenity. The fact that they had named the damn thing _Tranquil Lights_ still caused him to smirk. He walked a bit faster than he had in the past, his heart lighter than it had been in months. He turned the last corner and walked to the last door in the short hallway and stopped at the door he had come to almost every night. Letting out a long, slow breath through puffed cheeks and staring at his feet for a moment he raised his hand to the key pad. There was no need to look at the numbers, punching in the code was muscle memory. For so long there was no reason not to have it, not to use it to enter the empty bunk. Tomorrow he would change it…maybe…he'd wait a few more days…just to be sure…just to see that all was safe…just to be sure.

He stopped, fingers hovering over the key pad, feeling the presence next to him before the hand touched his outstretched arm. There was no need to tense, no need to look. He knew that presence without seeing or hearing. He smiled just knowing she shared his thoughts on this night. A soft, almost imperceptible squeeze told him to continue and he brushed his fingertips over the numbers, listening for the soft click that would tell him the door had unlocked.

They slipped into the room in silence, closing the door behind them without making a sound. Both stood for a moment allowing their eyes to make the adjustment from the dim hallway to the soft LED glow coming from the little clock on the nightstand. It cast a small ring of green light next to the bed.

"Still a slob," May whispered softly, glancing around the room and stepping over a boot tossed in the middle of the floor. She stooped and retrieved it and its mate that stuck out from under the bed and set both next to the door. She shook her head at his soft smile, snatching up socks and various other garments tossed across the floor and dropping them into a laundry bag hanging on the back of the door. "Guess some things never change," she sighed.

"Guess not," he mused as she stepped next to him slipping her arm through his and resting her cheek against his bicep. The only sound was the soft breathing from the form sprawled out on the bed before them.

They stood in silent watch, neither feeling guilty or self-conscious for doing so. A small smile crept across the former director's face and he reached up to squeeze the hand that rested on his arm.

"She's home." He breathed, just above a whisper.

May gave an almost unseen nod and gently slid her arm from his. "And she needs to sleep, so…" She almost chided, but felt too much relief to scold the gentle man next to her. She could only smile as she turned back toward the door intending to pull him with her.

He shook his head catching her hand before she escaped completely. "We all do." He whispered through a smile and she returned it, now totally able to see his face in the soft glow. He pulled her back and rested his arm over her shoulder in a soft hug and rested his cheek on top of her head.

May shook her head, "Come on, Phil, she's safe now, you can rest too."

He squeezed her a little tighter and nodded. "In a bit…"

"Remember when I told you're not her father?" May asked quietly, without accusation or judgment.

A flash of memory took Coulson back to that moment, the argument with Lincoln, the hot angry words and May trying to take away his pain. He blinked away a tear and swallowed. "I do. I remember and I knew then what I know now. I know she's not _my_ daughter…"

He stood and she turned so they faced each other in the small light. Their eyes met and he smiled that goofy _'I know exactly what you're thinking'_ smile. She leaned forward and he down until their foreheads met.

"She's _our_ daughter." He whispered in a soft breath across her face.

May closed her eyes and nodded, unable to look at him for a moment. She could not deny what they both understood in their hearts. Her ability to hide emotions so much more controlled than his but just as torn during the long months of the girl's absence. She pulled back and smiled at him before turning toward the sleeping form in the bed before them.

She moved to cover the leg poking out of the blankets, tugging the blankets from their tangled nest and gently sliding the purple-sock-clad-foot back onto the mattress before tucking them over the girl and under the mattress. Daisy sighed softly, rolled on her side and pulled herself into a tight ball.

"Wondered what happened to those socks." May remarked with an almost laugh. "Warmest, most comfortable sleep socks I ever had." She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest before letting out a quiet real laugh.

"That funny?" Couslon smiled.

She smiled back. Somehow smiling was a lot easier right now. "That and the PJ pants," she stifled a snort giving a slight nod toward the bed. "How much of an inhuman threat can she be in pink Power Puff Girl pants and purple fuzzy socks?" She reached down and softly brushed a stray hair from the girl's face then surprised Phil as well as her self as she quickly bent and placed a soft kiss on the girl's temple.

"Wǎn'ān, Skye, zhù nǐ hǎo mèng," _Good night, Skye, sleep well._

" _Skye?_ " Coulson furrowed his brow.

May nodded as she turned to face him. "She might be Quake to the public and Mace knows her as Agent Johnson, but here," she lightly tapped her chest with her fingertips. "Here, she'll always be Skye."

Coulson took her hand and pulled her into a hug before either of them allowed their unspent tears to fall. He shared the sentiment but knew that telling her so would allow that dam to break, instead he said.

"She prefers Daisy."

"Daisies are bound to the earth, draw life from it but when separated will eventually wither and die." May replied in a hushed tone, sounding so much like her mother, Lian. "But the sky goes on infinitely. It changes, darkens and clears, rumbles and shines, stuns us with colors and showers us with storm, but it remains strong and still, surrounding us with its consistency."

He hugged her tighter. "Never knew you to be a philosopher," he smiled.

"It's a well kept secret."

"Safe with me."

"Better be."

He moved away from her toward the bed, bent down and matched the May's kiss with his own. "Good night, Skye. I've missed you and I'm so glad you're back." He couldn't resist, he kissed her a second time and rested his hand on her head until he was afraid he might wake her.

May pulled him away gently, "Come on, she's okay now. Let's get some rest ourselves."

He shook his head. "No…no, for months I've been here, right here in this spot, wondering if she was safe, if she had a place to sleep, enough to eat…if she was hurt…if she as a…"

"If we'd ever see her again, if someone else would find her before we did…" May added, stopping him from voicing their worst fears.

"All those nights, I sat here awake, wondering, worrying…staring at that empty bed." He tilted his head toward the bed. "No, Mel, tonight…tonight, I sit right here." He moved toward the settee. "Right here and watch her sleep, safe, well fed, healthy and alive. Tonight, I won't wonder or worry. Tonight I will just, just this one time go against my better judgment and risk her barking at me in the morning. Tonight I will watch over our girl and allow myself to feel the absolute joy of having her home." He lowered himself onto the small couch.

For a moment she just stared at him. She knew he had spent all those nights here, knew he hadn't slept more than a few hours each night. He didn't know about the nights she'd done the same when he was away. He didn't hear her on the nights she snuck in to check on him, to throw a blanket over him. She looked back at the girl curled up in the bed, sleeping probably the soundest most restful sleep she had in months. She looked back at him and shook her head just a bit.

He moved over a bit and patted the seat next to him. She did not hesitate, but sat down next to him, snuggling into his side. Melinda May did not sleep well, even on the best of nights, but here with everything she held dear so close she allowed herself to relax. Phil Coulson wrapped an arm around the woman he loved and placed a kiss on the top of her head. He let out a soft breath and relaxed into the soft leather of the couch. Tonight, with both of his girls safe and close, he too would sleep. He looked at the woman snuggled into his side, eyes closed and breathing softly, then again at the girl softly snoring just a few feet away.

"Good night, Angel Eyes." He breathed as his eyes fluttered closed and sleep overtook him.

*Epilogue –

Daisy stood in the soft glow of the LED light of her tiny alarm clock. She had pulled the extra blanket from the bottom of her bed and now held it out hoping to cover the couple sleeping in her room. She couldn't be angry, they looked so cute snuggled into each other, the way she pictured them in her mind so often. She took a small step forward, holding the blanket at arms' length and stopped when Coulson suddenly squirmed a bit then rubbed a finger over his nose.

She'd heard most of what they'd said, after all May had taught her to be vigilant and she'd put that skill to work in her ' _long deep cover assignment'_. She smiled to herself at how the new director had used that to pull her back into the team. Maybe Mace wasn't so bad.

Her team, one of _the things_ she had missed so much, second only to _the one thing_ she missed most of all; the two people that meant more to her than she thought possible. She'd heard enough of what they said to understand that they felt a lot of the same things she did. She hadn't allowed herself to believe that, at first because she was too afraid she'd lose it and then because she knew she didn't deserve it…but they just wouldn't give up on her. May had said that Coulson wouldn't, but she didn't either. They loved her as much…if not more…than she loved them. How? Why? It didn't matter anymore. She quickly swiped the tear off her cheek with the back of her hand.

She'd thought of them as parents for so long but kept that was her secret. She kept it very close to her heart. She knew in his sad twisted way that Cal did love her, but not the same way Phil Coulson did. In her mind it was Coulson's face that appeared whenever she had the occasion to think of _Dad_ and May, well she was and always would be the only one that fit into her idea of Mom. Even during her short stay at After Life, even though she had called Jiaying by that term, it was May that fit into that space in her heart, but she thought she had ruined any chance of that, after all that had happened then and since then. She had missed them as parents in her absence, worried about both of them even though she was sure she had left them for their own good. Now, she berated herself for causing them so much pain and vowed she'd make it up to them. God, how she had missed them, realizing only now how she much loved them.

She moved closer and carefully dropped the blanket over both then started to step back when a hand grabbed her wrist. She gasped.

May opened the blanket, moved over and patted the now empty space between her and Coulson. Daisy blinked and stepped back.

"Please don't make me get up." She purred without opening her eyes.

Daisy shook her head and brushed away the tear she had even realized she'd shed before easing herself into the spot as May passed her the blanket. She turned and gently covered Coulson as well.

"You knew." She asked quietly.

Even with her eyes closed May could make that _'of course, I did'_ expression.

Daisy almost laughed. Of course May knew, of course she had heard her, knew she stood only inches from them.

Coulson grumbled and tossed into a half turn pulling the blanket a bit closer and reaching out an arm to pull both of his girls closer.

"Nice shirt." He remarked into Daisy's hair as her head came to rest against his shoulder.

She smiled and looked down at the red, white and blue shield emblazoned with a large star that decorated her oversized grey t-shirt. Yes, it was _his_ Captain America shirt. She'd lifted it out of the laundry along with May's fuzzy purple sleep socks and the crazy PJ pants Jemma had gifted her as a joke on their last Christmas. She wore them every night, her life line and connection to the people she thought of as family and lost. She peeked over the edge of the blanket and wondered if Fitz missed his little self-made alarm clock.

Daisy didn't know a lot about families, only what she had imagined…only what she had wished. The people that gave her life were terrifying. One had taken so many lives and the other had tried to take hers. Their beliefs were fanatical and homicidal, it had caused them to destroy each other and almost take her in the process. But her real family, her true parents had saved her. Then she'd betrayed them all, destroyed it all on her own.

She drew a deep breath and tried unsuccessfully to contain the sob that escaped with it. Two sets of arms immediately embraced her.

"Shh, shh," Coulson comforted. "You're safe now. We're here and no one's going anywhere." He kissed the top of her head. She let him.

May squeezed her hand. "Wǒmen ài nǐ, xiǎo yīgè. Xiànzài shuìjiào. Wǒmen zài zhèlǐ. Zǒng shì.

 _We love you, little one. Sleep now. We're here. For always._

They weren't angry, weren't upset or lecturing her on her bad choices or for running away from the people who truly wanted to help. She sobbed quietly and they comforted. The time would come for the lectures; somehow she knew they would, but not now, not tonight. Tonight they would comfort each other, silently apologize for all the things they did and didn't do, for all the things they didn't need to apologize for at all.

Daisy had missed her family, Jemma, Fitz, Mack…and these two people that now surrounded her…parents… _her_ parents…the parents she dreamed of, imagined and prayed for all her life. The parents that chose her, the parents she had chosen, not imaginary, made up parents, not parents that want to use you or hurt you because you don't agree with their beliefs, but real, honest to god, right up in your face _parents_ …the kind that let you find your own way, even if it hurts them and breaks their hearts…the kind that love you even when you do something wrong or super stupid, even when they'd really like to thrash you because you truly deserve it. When you disappoint them and try to turn away from them and then come back and they still love you.

And you love them back.

She snuggled down between them, allowing her self to relax into their forgiveness and relief, drifting back into sleep.

"Wǒ ài nǐ māmā," she breathed close to May's ear. The older woman patted her hand and smiled.

She turned toward Coulson snuggling deeper into his strong embrace. "Love you, Dad, g'night." She whispered quietly, but he heard and smiled and squeezed her a bit tighter.


End file.
